We achieve active mastery over illness and death by delegating all responsibility for their management to physicians, and by exiling the sick and the dying to hospitals. But hospitals serve the convenience of staff not patients: we cannot be properly ill in a hospital, nor die in one decently; we can do so only among those who love and value us. The result is the institutionalized dehumanization of the ill, characteristic of our age.

Summary

The quote argues that in our society, we entrust the control of illness and death to doctors and isolate the sick and dying in hospitals. However, hospitals prioritize the convenience of staff over the needs of patients. As a consequence, being ill or dying in a hospital lacks the personal care and emotional support that can only be found among loved ones. This institutionalized approach leads to the dehumanization of the sick, which is a prevailing characteristic of our time.

Topics